Chapter 1 :

Chapter 1

 

Prologue.

 

At every inn where travelers stopped, blood-soaked rumors rose like smoke.

 

It began with a small, commonplace incident that no one paid any attention to, dismissing it with, “Something like that happened?”

 

“An entire family in a village was slaughtered by a demon.”

 

The rumor that followed drew sympathy from everyone who heard it.

 

“They say only the family’s eldest son survived.”

 

A few days later, people were horrified.

 

“They say the surviving boy tracked down the demon responsible, cut off its head, and hung it outside his door before holding a funeral for his family.”

 

The boy was said to be only ten years old.

 

People were terrified.

 

Act One: The Land of the Dokkaebi.

 

“How could that possibly be true? Even a Mongdalgwi, famous for being weak, can make a grown man die screaming if he gets unlucky. That’s what demons are like. But what did you say? A ten-year-old cut off its head and displayed it on a gatepost? Even if those villagers were desperate for something to gossip about over their drinks, they should know when to stop.”

 

“Have you spent your whole life being deceived or something? If you don’t believe me, go there and see for yourself! You can reach it in half a day if you run.”

 

When Jang Sam made as if he would drag the man there at once, the man gulped down his liquor and grumbled.

 

Jang Sam might be prone to exaggeration, but he was not a liar.

 

“Good grief... It’s simply impossible to believe. So what is that poor child doing now?”

 

“I heard no one would help him, so he’s on the verge of starving to death. Apparently, he’s given up on living, refusing all food and drink while remaining beside the graves—”

 

“Where is this place?”

 

Jang Sam looked up at the voice that had suddenly interrupted and glanced over the uninvited guest.

 

She was a beautiful woman whose age was difficult to guess, seemingly somewhere between young and middle-aged.

 

Not only her age but even her origin and race were difficult to determine, given her mysterious complexion, large ears, and long limbs.

 

She was unfamiliar yet alluring.

 

After examining her appearance, Jang Sam cleared his throat and answered in a gentle voice.

 

“Subu Village in Aegul County. Follow the markers northeast from here, and it’ll take about half a day on foot.”

 

“I see. Thank you.”

 

“If there’s anything else you’d like to know—”

 

“This is for the story.”

 

The woman flicked him a coin and rose from her seat.

 

The woman, Mong Ryeon, had been drawn to the rumor on a whim.

 

She happened to be patrolling the territory under her jurisdiction and had merely heard a rumor that sounded interesting.

 

She immediately headed for Subu Village in Aegul County, where the “boy from the rumor” was said to be holding his family’s funeral.

 

It was a tranquil village.

 

It was an ordinary farming village where no one would find it strange if peace lasted for years, yet no one would be surprised if demons suddenly appeared and reduced the place to ruins.

 

The demon’s head hanging in the middle of that village created a distinctly unnatural yet strangely pastoral scene of slaughter.

 

“Snail-Headed Scholar.”

 

It was a grotesque demon resembling a human body with the head of a snail attached to it.

 

It had a particular fondness for human heads, pulling out and devouring only the head before discarding the corpse.

 

It was certainly a low-ranking demon that was frequently hunted, but that only applied to experienced hunters.

 

Even if enough ten-year-old children were gathered to fill an entire room, they would never be able to defeat one.

 

Yet this Wadu Scholar’s severed head now hung there alone, as though it had been repaid in kind for its habit of consuming only its victims’ heads.

 

“What are you doing there?”

 

As she stared intently at the Wadu Scholar’s head, three burly men addressed her in wary voices.

 

“Are you people from this village?”

 

“We are. Who are you?”

 

“I heard there was a boy here who killed a demon.”

 

“So you came after hearing the rumor. Don’t cause any pointless trouble. Just turn around and leave.”

 

“I heard the child was starving. Yet instead of caring for the one left behind, you scoundrels are plundering the belongings of the dead.”

 

“That thing isn’t a child. It’s a monster. And these aren’t things he deserves to own.”

 

Valuables filled the men’s hands.

 

Around their necks were wounds that resembled bite marks.

 

Having grasped the situation, Mong Ryeon did not waste words.

 

“I don’t know about that. I see different monsters standing before me.”

 

“Why, you... It seems words aren’t going to be enough to—”

 

Mong Ryeon snapped her fingers once, and the men’s bodies began to swell.

 

Pop.

 

With a sound like fireworks exploding, the front gate swung wide open.

 

The bell guarding the gate rang, revealing a crudely made burial mound and gravestone.

 

The boy sitting before them was emaciated, as though he had not eaten for days.

 

There was no trace of the strange gaze or ominous aura described in the rumors.

 

He was merely an ordinary boy with clear eyes.

 

His face and body were covered with evidence of merciless violence.

 

The looters she had just encountered were probably responsible.

 

Mong Ryeon waved her hand and completely healed the boy’s body.

 

His eyes widened like saucers.

 

She then placed a bamboo container in front of him.

 

Inside it, cooked porridge gave off wisps of pale steam.

 

“My name is Mong Ryeon.”

 

Only then did the boy turn his head and look at her.

 

“He has no will to live.”

 

Her first impression of him was that he resembled someone waiting for his appointed day of death.

 

It was understandable.

 

He had lost his entire family overnight and become an orphan with no one in the world.

 

Meanwhile, the people around him, who should have helped, treated him like a monster and plundered his home.

 

He must have seen no way to continue living.

 

“What is your name?”

 

“Ise.”

 

“I heard you were ten.”

 

“.......”

 

“Don’t look so serious. What sort of child doesn’t understand a joke? Ise, one who moves through a changing world... That is a good name. I have a few questions. Eat and answer at your leisure.”

 

Ise calmly picked up the wooden spoon.

 

Despite the food having clearly been placed there for him to eat, he did not take his first spoonful until she explicitly gave him permission.

 

He was polite, which meant he had been raised properly.

 

Just what had happened here?

 

Mong Ryeon grew increasingly curious.

 

“Did you kill the demon outside the gate?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“How did you kill it?”

 

“I gathered information about the demon, devised a plan to kill it, and then carried out that plan.”

 

That was no different from claiming he had studied from a single textbook and passed the highest civil-service examination.

 

Mong Ryeon let out an incredulous laugh at his extraordinarily bold answer.

 

“Well, that certainly is a novel method. Tell me more. Where and how did you obtain this information?”

 

“I bought it from a man named Wisaeng.”

 

“Be more specific.”

 

Ise, who had been chewing his porridge, stopped moving his spoon and raised his eyes as though organizing his thoughts.

 

It seemed the stranger before him would not leave easily.

 

“When the attack occurred, I was hiding inside a chest. I was sulking because I had been made to give both eggs to my younger siblings.”

 

His face twisted as though he were recounting something he did not wish to discuss, but he did not stop speaking.

 

“That was when the demon appeared. I judged that I couldn’t stop it with my own strength. So...”

 

The boy’s breathing quickened.

 

A faint tremor entered each breath, but it gradually subsided.

 

“I endured it while committing the creature’s appearance to memory. After it left, I checked which direction it had gone.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I had to take revenge.”

 

The answer came without the slightest hesitation, as though it were only natural.

 

Mong Ryeon tilted her head, signaling for him to continue.

 

“I gathered the household goods and anything else in the house that appeared valuable. Then I went to the residence of the scholar called Wisaeng and traded those things for information about the demon.”

 

“You could have saved them for your own future.”

 

“It was merely the childish recklessness of a ten-year-old.”

 

“What would you have done if he had given you false information?”

 

“He was the person who rescued me after I was abandoned, entrusted me to this family, and paid the expenses of raising me.”

 

“Tell me what happened next.”

 

“He told me the creature was weak against salt. I cut a length of bamboo, filled it with bamboo salt, and searched day and night around the place where the demon had disappeared. Eventually, it emerged to eat me. I pretended to be terrified and froze in place. Just before it swallowed me, I thrust the bamboo spear into its maw at point-blank range. Then, while the demon thrashed about with the spear still lodged inside it, I severed its neck with a hand axe.”

 

“.......”

 

He was a born hunter.

 

Mong Ryeon felt something beyond mere interest in the boy before her.

 

She felt exhilaration.

 

In more than three hundred years of hunting demons for a living, she had never encountered such a prodigy.

 

Contrary to Mong Ryeon’s expectations, however, the boy’s recollections were steeped only in regret.

 

“The last thing I said to the people who raised me... was an accusation. I asked whether they discriminated against me because I wasn’t their biological child. I regret saying that.”

 

“You are young. It was natural for you to think that way. It was not your fault.”

 

“My mother fed thin rice gruel to her biological children while nursing me, a child who did not share a single drop of her blood.”

 

“.......”

 

“I am an ungrateful beast who deserves to die.”

 

“They would consider themselves fortunate that you survived.”

 

“.......”

 

“Your mother must have been happy that she could nurse you. Your father must have taken joy in raising you. And I consider myself fortunate that I can take you in.”

 

She smiled as gently as possible and held out her hand.

 

“Will you come with me?”

 

But the boy had already lost his purpose in life.

 

Ise merely stared at her with emotionless eyes.

 

“Is there any particular reason I should?”

 

“You must take revenge.”

 

“I have already taken my revenge.”

 

“No. That creature harmed your family. Therefore, it is only right that you exterminate every last demon. Besides, Wadu Scholars are inherently passive demons. They do not ordinarily descend into human settlements and attack people without cause.”

 

“.....”

 

“You understand what that means, don’t you? There is another culprit behind this.”

 

The clever boy understood the woman’s intentions.

 

Perhaps she was trying to give him, who had lost all vitality, a new purpose.

 

She was telling him not to abandon his life.

 

If life itself held no meaning for him, then he could simply live as an avenger.

 

“I will guarantee you a peaceful life until you come of age and help you cultivate the strength needed for your revenge.”

 

“Is there something you desire from me?”

 

“Grow strong and become a hunter who kills more demons than anyone else.”

 

After quietly turning the matter over in his mind, Ise muttered, “That doesn’t sound bad,” and rose to his feet.

 

Even after another look, it was impossible to believe that such a small and frail body had confronted a demon head-on.

 

“What should I call you, Elder?”

 

“Whatever you like. You could call me Big Sister.”

 

“...May I ask how old you are?”

 

“No, you little bastard.”

 

Mong Ryeon swore coarsely at the boy staring intently at her, then answered awkwardly.

 

“...Call me Chief.”

 

“Yes, Chief.”

 

The moment they stepped outside the gate, they found the three burly men reduced to mangled pulp, with only their heads remaining intact.

 

Upon seeing them, Ise tilted his head.

 

“Those men...?”

 

“Did you inflict the wounds on their necks?”

 

“Yes. They were plundering the belongings of the deceased.”

 

“Well done. I finished them off for you. They were worse than demons.”

 

Ise silently stared at Mong Ryeon’s face.

 

Her bloodless features, ashen skin, and elongated ears.

 

He had sensed it from the beginning, but there was something about her that seemed slightly inhuman.

 

That included her ability to turn people into lumps of meat.

 

“Chief.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“May I ask what you are the chief of?”

 

Mong Ryeon smiled alluringly and whispered as though cautioning him not to be surprised.

 

“Dokkaebi.”

 

It was the day a single human boy joined the land of the Dokkaebi.